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Why Hockey Is Better

Okay, we're mostly supposed to talk about writing here. Or books. Or movies. Or recipes. Something with story, right? (I'm sure recipes all have a story. Mostly, when I cook, the outcome is always in doubt, and that's usually a good story ingredient!)

I believe sports is about story, too. Will the good guys (my team, of course) beat the bad guys? A rivalry has been building all season and now it's the thrilling final clash, who will emerge victorious? Evil Player A put a dirty hit on Saintly Player B, how will Player B's posse react when the teams meet again? Oh the drama!

April is a big sports month. The baseball season is getting started. Major golf championships are underway. Soccer is going strong. The regular basketball season is almost over, and their playoffs loom. Hockey's regular season is over, and their playoffs have just begun.

I know everyone has his or her own sports preference (or preference to not follow any sport), but my choice is hockey. Hands down. For me it has the most excitement, the most drama, the most heart. The playoffs, especially in the early rounds, are full of surprises and upsets and interesting storylines. It's the reason they wrote that song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year." (Many people think that's a Christmas song, but I'm sure it must have started out being about the NHL playoffs and got commandeered by someone who needed something for an early-December TV show and changed most of the words. Come on, the line "It's the hap-happiest season of all" HAD to have been written about hockey!)

Case in point: Richard Peverley.

Rich Peverley is a member of my favorite hockey team, the Dallas Stars. The team was playing the Columbus Blue Jackets on the night of March 10, 2014, when, six minutes into play, the game was abruptly halted. Head coach Lindy Ruff and the rest of the Stars were frantic over on the bench. Peverley had collapsed. His heart had stopped.

For forty-five long minutes, nobody in the arena or watching on TV knew what had happened. I knew Peverley had some heart issues and had missed the first three weeks of the season because of it. When the time dragged on and our regular broadcast team (the wonderful Ralph and Razor) counted up and said that Peverley was the only one missing, I was afraid he had died. He had died.

Thanks to the quick work of the training staff and the doctors available at the game (and the mercy of God), he was revived. One of the first things Peverly asked when he was conscious again was how much time was left in the first period. I'm sure he intended to go back in and play. Now that is a hockey player!

Unfortunately (though I'm sure his family is happy), the incident ended Peverly's season and, perhaps, his hockey-playing career. But he still travels with the team and no doubt is a great help to them.

Certainly there are people of courage, dedication and determination in every sport (and more in every other walk of life), but this boils it down for me. This is why I love hockey.

Rich Peverley, Dallas Star.

P. S. The Stars-Blue Jackets game that night was cancelled and replayed a month later. The Stars ended up losing that one, but they are in the playoffs. It's the most wonderful time of the year . . .

Which sport is your favorite? Or do you prefer anything other than sports? Why?

DeAnna Julie Dodson has always been an avid reader and a lover of
storytelling, whether on the page, the screen or the stage. This, along
with her keen interest in history and her Christian faith, shows in her
tales of love, forgiveness and triumph over adversity. She is the
author of In Honor Bound, By Love Redeemed and To Grace Surrendered, a
trilogy of medieval romances, as well as Letters in the Attic, The Key
in the Attic, The Diary in the Attic and The Legacy in the Attic,
contemporary mysteries. Her new series of Drew Farthering Mysteries
debuted in the Summer of 2013 with Rules of Murder, to be followed by
Death by the Book and Murder at the Mikado in 2014 from Bethany House.
A fifth-generation Texan, she makes her home north of Dallas with
three spoiled cats

Comments

oh, HOCKEY is my fave sport since a friend took the time to explain the nuances of the game while we watched team USA play team CANADA one year (at least 20 years ago now, but still...)my team is the Colorado Avalanche and for the longest time my favorite player was Joe Sakic.after hockey, it's football, baseball and a lot of other sports before basketball. i think blowing out my knee while playing basketball (highschool) sort of soured me on watching the sport. *heh*

I'm not much of a hockey fan, probably because of the intensity and violence but i like to watch it in person because of the speed. I like the heart for the game that college basketball players have, and I used to watch tennis all the time. We're more of a soccer family but I don't take the time unless I know someone who is playing... which now will mean the 4 year old league!

I loved to play soccer and tennis when I was young. Now I just admire sports fans' devotion such as DeAnna's for hockey. Of course I think it's a winter sport for the northern climates. Hockey in Texas still makes me go 'wha?' (kidding. sort of. but sending a big bucket of popcorn and a hug to our resident hockey fan!)

At one time hockey was played by real men who helmetlessly battled opponents and elements in subzero temperatures. Now they play in indoor rinks while their fans watch in climate controlled comfort. Wusses.

Personally, I don't watch anything sports-related unless the Green Bay Packers are on the field. Preferably Lambeau Field. In the cold.

Yeah, then the "real men" started getting smart enough to try to protect themselves from head injuries (and it's still not enough). But they do still have some NHL games outside now. Even in LA a few months ago. :D

I have enjoyed watching my youngest run track this year (first kid in sports). He's talking about playing HS football next year and I'm cringing already, thinking of those COLD Friday night games.As for professional sports, my favorite (read: the only thing I watch on purpose) is probably horse racing, but I don't really follow it. That reminds me... the Derby is coming up soon!

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